February has a way of making tax tasks feel louder than they need to be—especially if you dipped a toe into crypto and now you’re wondering what, exactly, you’re supposed to report.
The good news: you don’t have to “figure out your taxes” today. You just need to get organized. This crypto tax prep checklist is a step-by-step way to gather the records a tax professional (or tax software) typically needs, so you’re not scrambling later.
Important note: This is general, educational information—not tax, financial, or legal advice. Crypto rules can be nuanced, so when in doubt, bring your full paper trail to a qualified tax pro.
Start with simple buckets: what did you do in crypto this year?
Before you download anything, take five minutes to sort your activity into broad categories. This helps you know what records to look for—and it makes conversations with a preparer much easier.
- Buys and sells: Purchasing crypto with dollars, or selling crypto back to dollars.
- Swaps/trades: Exchanging one crypto asset for another.
- Spending: Using crypto to pay for goods or services.
- Rewards/earn: Staking rewards, interest-like programs, airdrops, or other incentive payouts (how they’re treated can vary—flag for your tax pro).
- Transfers: Moving assets between your own wallets or between an exchange and your wallet (often not a taxable event by itself, but easy to double-count if you’re not careful).
Also remember the IRS asks an “digital assets” question on individual returns. If you used crypto at all, it’s worth reviewing that question and answering it accurately based on your situation.
What to gather from exchanges and wallets (and how to keep it tidy)
If you used a centralized exchange, your first stop is typically the export/download area. The goal is to capture a complete transaction timeline—including fees—so your 2025 crypto taxes don’t turn into detective work next spring.
From each exchange, download (if available):
- Full transaction history (buys, sells, trades/swaps)
- Deposits and withdrawals (so you can match transfers)
- Fees paid (trading fees and withdrawal fees often matter)
- Any year-end summaries or tax reports the platform provides (useful, but don’t assume they’re complete)
From each self-custody wallet, export or record:
- Your wallet addresses (public addresses only—never share seed phrases)
- Transaction list with dates/timestamps and transaction IDs (hashes)
- Notes on what each transfer was for (e.g., “moved from Exchange A to Wallet 1”)
A low-stress workflow for multiple platforms: create one folder per platform (Exchange A, Exchange B, Wallet 1, Wallet 2), save exports as PDF/CSV, and keep a single “master notes” document where you list any unusual events (lost access, chain migrations, mergers of accounts, or missing statements).
Cost basis basics (and the missing pieces that cause headaches)
Crypto cost basis is just your starting point for figuring gain or loss when you dispose of an asset (sell it, trade it, or spend it). In plain English: it’s generally what you paid for the crypto, plus or minus certain adjustments, compared to what it was worth when you disposed of it.
Why people get stuck is that cost basis can be incomplete when:
- You transferred crypto in from another platform and the receiving exchange doesn’t know what you originally paid.
- You received crypto (rewards, airdrops, payments) and don’t have a clear record of the value when received.
- Fees are missing from exports, making gains look larger than they really were.
- Transfers between your own accounts get mistakenly treated as sales.
If you’re seeing “unknown cost basis” or “missing lots,” don’t guess. Instead, gather the earliest available records that show how you acquired the asset and bring that documentation to your preparer. If you used multiple platforms, expect a reconciliation step: matching outbound transfers from one account to inbound transfers in another so they’re not double-counted.
A ‘bring this to your tax pro’ list (plus what not to do)
Even if you’re planning to file yourself, it helps to think like a tax preparer. Here’s a practical packet to assemble.
- All exchange exports (transaction history, deposits/withdrawals, fees)
- Wallet transaction histories and your public addresses
- Notes about staking/rewards programs and any “earn” activity
- Records of crypto used for purchases or payments
- Any notices you received from a platform (account closures, migrations, or corrected reports)
- Your best estimate of how many platforms/wallets you used and when
Questions to ask a tax professional:
- Which IRS forms are commonly used for crypto disposals in my situation (for example, capital gains reporting such as Form 8949 and Schedule D), and what do you need from me to prepare them?
- How should we treat transfers between my own wallets so they aren’t reported twice?
- How do you prefer I document cost basis when a platform shows it as “unknown”?
- How do you generally approach staking or reward-type income items, and what records help most?
- What’s your process if an exchange report conflicts with my wallet history?
What not to do: don’t estimate numbers to “get it done,” don’t ignore fees, and don’t assume a platform’s summary is the whole story. Organization now is what keeps April calmer later.
Sources
Recommended sources to consult (and to verify current IRS wording and the most up-to-date reporting pathway for individuals, including the “digital assets” question and common forms used for disposals). This article is informational only and not tax advice.
- Internal Revenue Service (irs.gov)
- SEC Investor.gov (investor.gov)
- FINRA (finra.org)
- U.S. Treasury (home.treasury.gov)
- National Association of Enrolled Agents (naea.org)